Garment with expandible opening



Dec. 25, 1951 w. L. NEHRENZ GARMENT WITH EXPANDIBLE OPENING Filed May 11, 194:5

INVENTOR. Mum/n l A mrfiLa z Patented Dec. 25, 3951 UNITED STATES 2,580,314

GARMENT WITH EXPANDIBLE OPENING William L. Nehrenz, New York, N. Y.

Application May 11, 1949, Serial No. 92,613

1 Claim.

This invention relates to garments and has particular reference to an improved construction of expandable opening adapted to permit of the enlargement of the garment to facilitate donning or removal thereof.

The invention comprehends a garment havin an expandable opening provided with a stretchable backing secured thereto in bridging relation with the opposite edges defining the opening and which permits of the spreading apart of said edges for enlarging the opening while normally retaining the edges in substantially closed relation and preventing nether garments from being seen through said opening.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment with an opening such as a placket for facilitating donning or removal of the garment and which is provided with an elastic backing secured to the garment at the opposite sides of the opening in spaced relation with the side thereof, together with interengageable fastening means carried by the side edges for closing the opening.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, reference is now made to the following specification and accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a face view showing a fragmentary portion of a garment provided with an expandable opening and constructed in accordance with the invention and illustrating the same in closed relation.

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the opening in partially opened and expanded relation.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal fragmentary sectional view taken approximately on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the opening in open and expanded relation.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, a garment indicated by the reference character A is fragmentarily shown to illustrate a portion thereof requiring expanding in order to enlarge the garment so as to facilitate donning or removal thereof. The portion of the garment illustrated is provided with an expandable opening In which is defined by opposite side wall portions H and I2 of the garment extending the full length of the opening and having inturned doubled confronting edges l3 and I4.

Interengageable fastening means preferably of the slide fastener type is provided for securing the side walls II and I2 of the opening in closed relation. The slide fastener indicated by the referencecharacter l5 has the tapes i3 and I! thereof disposed on the inside of the garment and sewed thereto by lines of stitching l8 and i9 which extend the full length of the opening 1ongitudinaily of and in spaced relation to the edges :3 and i respectively. The tapes are also secured to the garment by transverse lines of stitching 2E3 and 2! located at the opposite ends of the tapes and which close the opposite ends of the opening.

The opening is provided with a backing 22 of elastic or stretchable material which underlies the entire rear face of the tapes IE and H of the fastening means in bridging relation with the opening. The backing is secured to the outer longitudinal edges of the tapes and to the garment by lines of stitching 23 and 24 extending longitudinally of the opening it which are located laterally outward of the lines of stitching i8 and is. The backing is also secured to the ends of the tapes and to the garment by transverse lines of stitching 25 and 26.

This provides a construction which permits of the movement of the slide fastener element 27 to open the opening ill so as to spread the side walls ii and 2 for enlarging the garment. The backing 22 being of elastic or stretchable material normally retains the side Walls H and i2 in sub-- stantially closed relation as shown in l of the drawings but permits of the expansion or spreading apart of the side walls ii and i2 to enlarge the opening and enlarge the portion of the garment. The backing 22 is stretchable laterally as indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawing permitting the opening to be expanded its full Width while at the same time preventing nether garments from being seen through the opening. The backing 22 also prevents the nether garments from being caught in the inter-engageable fastening means.

What is claimed is:

In a garment, a body having oppositely disposed side wall portions providing an elongated slit closed at its opposite ends, interengageable slide fastening means including slide engaging tapes secured to the inner faces of said side wall portions longitudinally of and adjacent to the edges of the slit whereby said tapes are concealed beneath the side wall portions when the edges of the slit are in abutting closed relation, a slide fastening'elenient engaging said tapes and accessible from outside the slit for closing the same and for disposing the sides of the slit in abutting closed relation, and a flexible resilient backing secured to the inner face of said side wall portions across the ends of said slit and longitudinally of and in spaced relation to the edges thereof in underlying relation with the tapes and in bridging relation with the slit, and said backing being stretchable laterally when the side walls of the body are spread apart to widen the slit.

WILLIAM L. NEHRENZ.

REFERENCES CITED file of this patent:

Number 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Lecoutre May 15, 1917 Newman et a1 July 22, 1924 Kaplan Apr. 8, 1930 Scott June 9, 1942 Moench Nov. 24, 1942 McFarlane July 3, 1945 Golde l..- .-.t.i Feb-. 7, 1950 

